841.24/2039b
The Department of State to the British Embassy
Lord Halifax will remember that Mr. Acheson has earlier discussed with him the question of announcing monetary figures which would, as far as possible, indicate the impressive scope of the reciprocal aid extended to the United States by the United Kingdom. It was felt then that it might be difficult for Congress and the United States public to grasp the extent of reciprocal aid if it is presented to them only in computations with which they are unfamiliar.
Since that conversation, hearings have been held before Committees of both Houses of Congress in connection with the extension of, and appropriations under, the Lend-Lease Act.78 The testimony of Major [Page 58] Spiegelberg79 on the aid given our armed forces in Great Britain aroused great interest, both in Congress and in the country at large. It seems evident that few people had had any real notion of the volume of this aid. There was also expressed, in Congress and in the press, the strong feeling that monetary values should be placed on reciprocal aid, so that its volume could be easily comprehended. It is clear that Congress and the press find it difficult to understand why such estimates can not be provided, and it is feared that failure to provide them may result in suspicion and an atmosphere of mystery which will obscure the success with which United Nations’ resources are being pooled.
The Government of the United States hopes, therefore, that the British Government will find it possible to assemble and, to the extent compatible with military security, make public figures with respect to the cost of goods and services delivered as reciprocal Lend-Lease. These figures could be in terms of sterling, without reference to a specific conversion rate. Such estimates will, of course, be impossible in the case of certain types of aid, notably the provision of information, upon which values can be placed only with difficulty, if at all. It would seem desirable, as the figures mentioned above are released, to describe the nature and extent of that aid which is not susceptible of description in precise monetary terms.
It is hoped that the British Government will find it possible to make available such a report at a sufficiently early date so that it could be included in the quarterly report on Lend-Lease operations which will be submitted to Congress in August of this year. Of course no figures on the reciprocal aid received by the United States from the United Kingdom would be released without the fullest discussion with the British Government.
Mr. Averell Harriman has, in the past, discussed this question with Sir Kingsley Wood, and will shortly do so again.
- The Lend-Lease Act was originally passed on March 11, 1941; 55 Stat. 31. It was extended on March 11, 1943; 57 Stat. 20. Appropriations were provided on June 14, 1943; 57 Stat. 151.↩
- Maj. George A. Spiegelberg, Recorder of the General Purchasing Board in the European Theater, United States Army. For the text of his testimony, see Extension of Lend-Lease Act: Hearings Before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, 78th Cong., 1st sess., on H.R. 1501, pp. 49–79.↩